1987-1999
Our parish was established in May 1987 to address the needs of the growth of the population in our area and to better serve the people in Southeast Orange County. Our founding pastor, Father Robert Hoeffner, bought a rectory building and set up a temporary office. In September, the first Masses were held at the VFW building on South Goldenrod Road.
By 1988, as the St. Isaac Jogues community continued to grow, Masses were temporarily being held at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church before moving again to a building that today serves as a child care facility. In November of that year, the parish celebrated its first Spanish mass.
In Spring 1989, construction began on the parish hall on South Chickasaw Trail. During its construction, Masses were held in the cafeteria at nearby Liberty Middle School. The parish hall officially opened in 1990, and Father Hernan Afanador joined the parish as its first parochial vicar the following year.
In the Fall of 1996, construction began on the parish administration building, housing all administrative functions, as well as providing conference rooms, work space for volunteer groups, and a lunch room for the staff. In 1997, Father Phillip Nuñez III joined St. Isaac Jogues, becoming our second parochial vicar.
1999-2004
In Summer 1999, Father Robert Markunas was appointed as the second pastor of St. Isaac Jogues. In addition to his pastoral duties, he led Catholic radio programming for the Hispanic population in the Orlando area. Father Ybain Ramirez replaced Father Phillip Nuñez III as the new parochial vicar in August of 2001. During that time, planning commenced for the construction of our new church building. With the community growing, it was evident that a new worship environment was needed.
In the Fall 2003, Father J. Fernando Gil, J.C.D. became our third pastor. Shortly after, Bishop Norbert Dorsey along with Father Gil and founding pastor Father Robert Hoeffner broke ground for the new church. Then in November 2004, Father Andrew Wojtan joined us as a parochial vicar.
2005-2021
On May 14, 2005, a new chapter in the life of St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church began with the Dedication of the new church building. Most Rev. Thomas G. Wenski, the new Bishop of Orlando at the time, was the principal celebrant for this exciting and jubilant celebration.
In September 2005, we welcomed Father Jose Muñoz to St. Isaac Jogues as our fourth pastor, who began to lead the parish with zeal and great leadership, growing our Faith Formation programs and maturing our ministries.
Construction of new altar and choir platforms in the church began in the summer of 2014, and were completed by the end of the year. Several other upgrades were made to the church building and parish hall in the years that followed.
2020 was a very trying year for all of humanity as we experienced the worldwide pandemic. After the initial strict quarantine, and on Sunday May 30, the Solemnity of Pentecost, the faithful were allowed to return to in person liturgies, but it took a whole year before people felt comfortable to come back to church. The administration of the parish was strongly affected by the economy and the circumstances and a few employees could not return to work for us. With a “skeleton” staff we continued to lead the people of God back to normalcy by restoring services and activities we had before the pandemic.
2021 – Present
In June 2021, we welcomed Father José Bautista as our fifth pastor, with Father Enrique Guerra as our parochial vicar. We are very blessed to have such talented and dedicated priests leading our community. Today, we are grateful to welcome over 5,000 families to our wonderful community of faith. We continue to mature as a community, and grow closer to Christ. We look toward the future and know that there are many great blessings in store for us.